title: [Sperm survival test assessing the change of sperm motility after long-term incubation].
abstract: The purpose of this study is to establish a new screening test to assess the sperm fertilizing potential. This test was named sperm survival test (SST). At the beginning, following 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hour incubation, sperm motility was examined. It was defined that the SST result was positive when only motile swim-up sperm existed at the estimating point and negative when non-motile sperm existed. 1. The result of the SST was stable when there was a concentration of 10(5)-10(7) sperm/ml. 2. The SST could be used to assess sperm function that conventional semen analysis could not assess. 3. The result of the SST was positive at 36 hrs in 8 proven fertile men. In infertile men there was a significant correlation between a 36 hr positive SST result and the pregnancy rate (p less than 0.01). This result indicated that a 36 hr positive SST showed good sperm fertilizing potential and a 36 hr negative result poor fertilizing potential. 4. In IVF-ET, the fertilization rate was 92.9% at a 48 hr positive SST, 85.4% at a 36 hr positive SST, 68.1% at a 24 hr positive SST, 15.4% at a 12 hr positive SST and 0% at a 6 hr positive SST. Furthermore, the fertilization rate for a sperm concentration less than 10 x 10(6)/ml was 17.6% (0% at a 6 hr positive SST and 25% at a 12 hr positive SST) and at motility less than 30% was 28.9% (0% at a 6 hr positive SST, 18.2% at a 12 hr positive SST and 69.2%). In conclusion, SST is an accurate clinical test for predicting sperm fertilizing potential and the fertilization rate in IVF-ET.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fuse
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005306:Fertilization; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*